Allie H.
From Manager, M+A Consulting to Director of Corporate Partnerships, United Way
Georgetown MBA ‘19
Allie had been a consultant for ten years and, wow, was she ready for a change. She wanted a career that felt more authentic and aligned with her values and strengths, but had no idea what that was or how to make the transition.
Allie had started to explore the job market, applying for roles in corporate strategy at non-profits. Those roles seemed like a natural extension of her experience and she was getting good responses. However, she just wasn’t that excited and something felt off.
As we dug into Allie’s strengths, we realized that Allie’s super-power is people. She loves connecting with people and making them feel good and supported. She already knew this about her personal life, but had never thought about how she could use this in her career.
The other big revelation from our exploration? Strategy and analysis weren’t Allie’s natural strengths, so no wonder she found consulting so draining!
We quickly created a plan for Allie to pursue partnership roles at basic needs non-profits, an area she was deeply passionate about.
Allie was worried that her consulting experience wouldn’t translate and she may have to take a step back in career progression. She had tried to apply for a few partnership roles earlier in her search, but hadn’t gotten any responses.
We mined Allie’s work history for relevant relationship-management experiences. She had a lot more to highlight that she had initially thought, ranging from managing a large client account to conducting a partnership landscape analysis at her MBA-summer internship.
We spruced up her resume to highlight those experiences and created a passion-fueled elevator pitch and networking plan. Ta-da, Allie went from zero interviews to two dream job offers.
In Allie’s words:
“When I started working with Cydnee, I was at a complete loss for what I wanted to do next. Her systematic way of figuring out my strengths and values paired with her guidance throughout the application process made all the difference.
She gave me confidence to apply for stretch positions rather than feeling the need to start over (given the change in both industry and function). I am so grateful for the time she spent behind-the-scenes reviewing my resume, gathering resources, and thinking of additional tailored ways to help me. She is a reliable coach with high standards, which is exactly what I needed. I can't wait to start my new role and live a more authentic life!”
